Old Days
by tigerkity
Summary: Daniel remembers A testament to the friendhsip between Jack and Daniel.


**Title: Old Days**

**Summary: Daniel remembers; A testament to the friendhsip between Jack and Daniel. **

**Spoilers: Broca Divide, Within the Serpent's Grasp, Out of Mind, Legacy, The Light, Evolution part 2**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Stargate nor the characters from that wonderful show, nor do I make any money from writing this, though I wish I did.**

**_Author's Note:_ This story ended up being something completely different from what I thought up in the first place, but I like it anyway.**

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His mind was fuzzy, clouded with the after effects of the tranquilizer dart. He was laying supine on a cold, hard surface. Daniel couldn't remember anything past arriving on the planet, P3...something or other, and finding Melosha shortly before he was attacked. Jack was right by the way, it needed a better name. As he gently floated back down into reality, he could hear voices in the background. One in particular, its deep tones soothing and familiar. It belonged to a man who had taken him in when no one else would, a stranger who became his best friend almost immediately, a man who had stood up for him; someone who had comforted him when he needed it the most.

"Jack," 

He was instantly rewarded. The composure reverberated through the short distance that separated the archaeologist from the rest of his team, making him feel safer and more at ease.

"There's our boy!"

Everything was fine now, Jack was here, Jack would take care of him.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 

Everything was going to hell in a hand basket! They were stuck on Apophis' mother ship on some damned suicide mission that was supposed to save Earth, but fate decided to make their job even harder by constantly throwing up new obstacles at them. Skaraa was here, trying to kill Bra'tac, only he wasn't Skaraa, Daniel had to keep reminding himself. The Goa'uld's name was Klorel. Poor Jack, it must have been so hard on him to see Skaraa like that, Daniel knew how much he liked his young Abydonian brother-in-law.

Jack had left him out in the hallway to watch their backs, thinking that it was the safest place for him, but he was wrong. Two jaffa came barreling down the corridor hearing the ensuing firefight within the Peltac, the Goa'uld equivalent of a bridge.

"Jack!" I need some help here. He could always rely on Jack to help him when he needed it. His attention wavered and in that instant, a third jaffa took the opportunity to nail him with a staff blast. Searing heat spread throughout his shoulder as he retaliated by shooting the alien. The pain overloaded his sense and he slid to the ground when his legs refused to hold him any longer.

Jack appeared from within the room with a look on his face that Daniel couldn't identify. That look morphed into fear and anger upon seeing the bloody mess that was his shoulder.

"Daniel! Dammit!" he bent down to his level and began hoisting him up.

"I'll be dead anyway, just get out of here!" It was at that moment when he realized what they were really sacrificing. How many people knew exactly when they were going to die? At least he would go down doing something worthwhile, it was his only chance.

"I am not leaving you here Daniel!" Why wouldn't Jack just listen?

"Get out of here! You're just going to blow up on the other ship anyway, what difference does it make? Go…just go…I'll stay and watch your back," Jack's hand gently touched his cheek; a show of affection so deep that couldn't be expressed with words, an expression of emotion that he couldn't think of conveying any other way.

After a moment, he pulled away, back to business. Daniel felt the calm and serenity that had passed over him during heir brief exchange leave along with Jack. The comfort of his best friend was noticeable in its absence.

It wouldn't be until later that Daniel realized exactly what it did to Jack to leave him there dying; to leave him behind.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He just felt like curling up under his meager blanket for the rest of his life. He had woken up many years in the future to someone telling him that all his family and friends were dead. Jack, Sam, Teal'c, Janet, the General, Siler, the cute Lieutenant he had coffee with on Tuesdays, the janitor who was fascinated by all the figurines in his office and talked to him at two in the morning when he should really be at home sleeping: all dead. Why, out of all of them, was he the one to survive? It wasn't fair.

A muffled thud interrupted his dark thoughts, followed by a...

"Daniel, Daniel,"

Jack? It couldn't be…could it? His best friend's voice sounded like the best thing he had ever heard, but he wouldn't let himself believe it until he _saw_ him. He had been having flashbacks of his friends because of the memory recall device implanted in his temple, and he wasn't quite sure just yet that that wasn't what he was hearing.

He opened his eyes and low and behold, there was Jack, along with Sam! He didn't quite understand, but he knew that no matter what, things were okay because his family was there now. He was okay, Jack could explain everything to him later.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sitting, feeling so alone in his cell, he glanced at the image before him.

"Jack?"

It wouldn't be the first time his friend had visited him in his isolation. Jack had shown up many times to talk to him and listen to his pleas. He had been so understanding and had promised that he knew Daniel wasn't crazy. They had many conversations as if everything were normal, except the doctors told him that Jack wasn't real. He didn't really believe the doctors; Jack told him that they were really the crazy ones.

Jack had believed him when no one had; he had been his support when everyone abandoned him to the 'Loony Farm' as he had nicknamed it.

"It's us Daniel. Can't you see us?" Ah, Sam had come as well. Of course he could see them, but the problem was that he was seeing a lot of things lately.

"I was just making sure you weren't figments of my…mind…"

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

God, it was all so wrong, just a big waste of time. He felt as if his whole life had just lost its meaning. 'What was the use?'

Daniel looked down at the street below him and felt his hands loosening their grip on their own accord. He should just do it now and get it over with, no use going on.

He was about to let go until he heard a familiar voice calling his name, telling him to come inside.

"None of it means anything," the fight against the Goa'uld. Didn't Jack see? Every time they made some progress, something came up and set them back even further. Every time they killed a snake, a worse one took its place. Their war, their defiance of the Goa'uld, in the long run, was destined to fail. Jack always said that there was hope; that they couldn't stop believing that what they were doing was right.

"I tried. It just goes away," every time he had hope that he would get Sha're back, something would happen to snuff out that little flame. Now it didn't matter though, she was dead. Every one he loved was dead. He had to end it before anyone else died because of him.

A little, nagging voice in his head was screaming at him to jump, to end it 'once and or all' but there was another voice. Jack. Jack was saying that they would get it back. How could he get back something that he had already lost forever?

"You can't get it back," he sobbed.

"Whatever's wrong, we'll fix it," 'you can't fix it, sorry Jack, but not this time. This time it's beyond fixing, even for you.' Jack sounded so sure, but so was Daniel.

"You don't even know what I'm talking about,"

"No, No I don't, but come inside," see, he's like Bob Marley, he could tell no lies, well, at least not to me. Suddenly, as if the foggy cloud of despair that had wrapped itself about him dissolved, a rope was tossed down to him to help him out of the whole in which he had dug himself, offering a way out and comfort. Only one person could reassure him like that.

Coming back to his senses, he realized where he was. He grabbed onto the railing for dear life, as he saw the people and cars moved underneath him. Heights terrified him and his panicked mind reached out for the calming presence it had felt earlier,

"Jack?"

"Yeah," he was here, for real. He would be fine now; he wouldn't let him fall.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He had come a long time since the beginning of the Stargate program. He was no longer the clumsy, bumbling geek that needed reassurance at every corner. He had changed over the long and hard years into more of a jaded soldier, not an academic. This trip was supposed to be a brief respite, even though it was officially work, he was supposed to be on a dig, doing what he did best as an archaeologist, dig. But something went wrong, as things tend to do. He found himself in the middle of a rebel camp, using techniques that he had hoped never to have to use.

After Nem captured him and interrogated him, Jack had gone into serious protection mode, insisting he teach him several self defense moves. But one day, Jack had sat him down and spoken to him about torture, and although it wasn't the case that time, it was a necessary precaution that he felt that he needed to know; how to properly take care of himself should he be faced with that situation. He had vaguely alluded to personal experiences with the topic and gave him advice on what to do.

Sadly, Jack had been right. He had needed and relied on those skills, and this time was the same. There was no way he could let those damn rebels get their hands on the Telchak device and know how to operate it, it would be a disaster. Unfortunately, Lee wasn't as prepared as Daniel and he had told them…everything.

They had broken out of their little shack, separated, and now Daniel thought he was going to die. Raphael, the rebel leader, was standing over him with a nasty looking machete, gloating about how he was going to skin him alive. He turned, desperately looking for a way out, and finding none he clung to a large rock, the only protection he was likely to get.

This was it. He couldn't believe it, after fighting off-world against evil aliens, he was going to die on his own planet! He quickly apologized in his mind to those that he was leaving behind, but was interrupted by gunfire.

Jack? Oh thank god, it's about time.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

He was aware of the 'beep beep beep' of the heart rate monitor. He had woken up in the infirmary so many times over these past ten years, he knew it when he heard it, and smelled it. One thing, however, was ominous in its absence. Two things really. First, Janet was no longer there, fussing about him, forcing him to stay in bed without any translations to work on. God he missed her, they all did. But the one that really put him at unease was that Jack was no longer there. The SGC, no he, would never be the same.

There was a large void where Jack and their friendship had once been. Jack would have waited however long it took for him to wake, just so he wouldn't be alone when he came around. It was reassuring to know that, for not even Janet could have removed him when he went into his protective mother hen mode.

Though, he was a grown adult, it was still nice to know that someone cared. Of course Sam and Teal'c cared about him, but it was Jack who would stick to him like glue to make sure that he ate, drank, and slept. Sure, they would stop by during the day, and so would that new guy, Mitchell, but it just wasn't the same without Jack. He felt… he didn't know how he felt. Maybe…empty, not as sure of himself, not as safe, because Jack wasn't there to watch his back. He was in D.C. Far enough away for Daniel to feel slightly abandoned. It would never be the same.

A nurse noticed that he was awake and came to his side to check his responses. Daniel stared up at the unfamiliar face. So many new people. It used to be where he would know everyone's name and life story, especially the nurses, sine he spent so much time there, but not so anymore. It made him feel really old to see the new, younger, crowd come in to replace those who had either retired, made the ultimate sacrifice, or moved on. They say that change is good, but Daniel wasn't so sure about that this time. This time there was too much change, and some of it was not for the better. He sighed as the nurse move away, deciding that he was fine. He missed his friend, his wife, his doctor, his good-father.

He missed the old days.


End file.
